- 1947 to 1956: Jinnah ruled the Dominion of Pakistan in the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1956 to 1969: a Republic but the civilian rule was stalled by a coup d’état by General Ayub Khan
- 1969-1971: Yahya Khan presided over a devastating cyclone which caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan.
- 1971: Indian intervened in a civil war over east Pakistan that led to the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh.
- 1972-1977: Civilian rule resumed in Pakistan under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto until he was deposed and sentenced to death.
- 1977: General Zia-ul-Haq became the country's third military president, introduced the Islamic Sharia legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military.
- 1988: death of President Zia in a plane crash in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- 1999: Military coup d'etat gave General Pervez Musharraf vast executive powers.
- 2001: Rafiq Tarar resigned as president and Musharraf became president.
- 2002: Musharraf transfered power to an elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
- 2004: Shaukat Aziz was elected prime minister.
- 2007: for the first time in Pakistani history, a prime minister completed his tenure and new elections were held. The exiled political leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were permitted to return to Pakistan. However, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto during the election campaign in December led to postponement of elections and nationwide riots. Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the largest number of seats in the elections held in February 2008 and its member Yousaf Raza Gillani was sworn in as Prime Minister.
- 2008: Pervez Musharraf resigned from the presidency when threatened with impeachment and succeeded by current president Asif Ali Zardari.
- 2009: more than 3 million Pakistani civilians have been displaced by the on going conflict in North-West Pakistan between the government and Taliban militants.
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